Rhythm of the Rails
by blueholly
Summary: Lily and James's trips to Hogwarts on the Express, Years One to Seven, with a chapter dedicated to each year.Enjoy.
1. Good Morning America, How Are You?

**A/N- More bad writing! YAY! But I'm pretty much obsessed with this story. I've wanted to write it for a while. This fic will ONLY be train journeys TO Hogwarts. I _may _make a sister fic in which the charries actually go to school (or possibly one over Summer Vacation). Maybe.**

**I am _not_ trying for humor in this story. I figured out in "If You Couldn't Get Caught" that I'm not so good at it. I am, however, trying to get the tone of conversation I have with most of my male friends. Forgive me if I fail. I'm not a good writer. That's why I'm on fanfiction.**

**The title is a line from the song 'City of New Orleans', but the plot is otherwise unrelated. I just like the way those words sound together. Sue me. (Actually… on second thought… DON'T! PLEASE!)**

**NOTE TO SELF: FINISH AUTHOR'S NOTE**

**Disclaimer: Noone ever reads these things. I BETTER NOT GET SUED JUST CAUSE SOME LAWYER COULDN'T BE BOTHRED TO READ MY A/N! Oh. Haha… Um… "I don't own Harry Potter".**

**Rhythm Of the Rails- Chapter One**

Anxiously, Lily boarded the train, her trunk right behind her. Everyone else seemed to know each other already. Girls and boys alike were greeting each other, hugging, and finding themselves compartments. Lily felt lost and confused. She bit her lip and hung her head.

'_I should never have come._'

Then she brought her face up. What was it that her mother had said to her?

'_I am an Evans_', she thought to herself, and drew herself up straight. She almost marched herself up to the first compartment door, and, before her newfound confidence deserted her, knocked.

A pretty face appeared at the door.

"Yes?" asked a black haired girl with piercing blue eyes. Her mouth was twisted into a dark smile, made darker by the purple lipstick she was wearing.

"I-I'm Lily Evans," said Lily tentatively. The girl gave her a bored, scornful look. "I was wondering if I could… sit with you." She ventured, putting on her brightest smile. The other girl laughed out loud.

"You? With us?" asked the girl. Lily blushed as she heard voices tittering inside the compartment. "Dream on!"

The door slammed in Lily's face. Her shoulders sagged and her lip trembled. She turned from the door and found herself face to face with a red haired boy with bright brown eyes.

"You _didn't_ just go ask Bellatrix Black if you could sit with her, did you?" he asked, sounding intensely amused. Then he grinned. "Cause you really don't look like a prospective Slytherin."

"S-slytherin?" she asked, her voice faltering. He caught the expression on her face and beamed.

"A Muggle-born! It seems we have more than just our hair in common. Here. You can sit with us." He opened the door to some seats grandly, ushering her in.

"Ladies. Gentlemen. Alex. I present miss Lily Evans." Lily saw two curious faces, both of them male. A boy with light, feathery brown hair was draped over a seat. He stuck his tongue out at Lily's new friend. Then he turned to Lily.

"Pleasure to meet you Lily. My name's Alex. Contrary to popular belief, I _am_ actually male." He informed her, standing up. Lily had to lean her head back to look up at him. He laughed at the expression on her face. "Yeah. They think I'm an extra terrestrial because, apparently, there's no other way I could be this tall."

"It can't be Giant's blood! You'd be fat." Said a blond boy, grinning up from the seat across from Alex. "I'm Jacob."

Lily smiled and turned to the red head that had found her. "And you are?" she asked.

"Ethan Marcus Eleanor Simon Cordus von Rochow," he told her, bowing.

"Can I call you Eleanor?" she asked, grinning up at him.

"You _want_ to sit here, right?" he replied, glaring at her kindly. She pretended to think about it.

"Yes. I think I do… Eleanor."

Ethan grinned in spite of himself and helped her lift her trunk into position. He did so with a quick spell, which left Lily wide-eyed.

"Never seen magic before?" he asked. Lily shook her head and he explained, "You'll pick it up soon enough. I'm a Muggle born – that means neither of my parents have magic- and look where I am now! A regular-"

"Boaster?" interrupted Alex lazily. "That's nice and all Ethan, but I hardly think that as second years we can claim to have any astonishing magical prowess."

Jacob rolled his eyes. "They do this a lot. They are, according to them, very good at 'witty' banter." Lily laughed and sat next to Jacob while Ethan tried to force Alex to give him some space on the seat opposite.

'_Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea after all_' she thought as she watched Ethan and Alex argue about how much leg room Alex really required.

--

By the time the candy trolley had arrived, Lily felt closer to this group of boys than she had ever felt to Petunia. Not that that was very difficult. They were entertaining and nice. They had also explained many of the Hogwarts quirks to her. She felt like she knew the castle already, though she had never seen it.

"So anyway, you can't enter the girls dorm, cause the stairs turn into this ramp thing and-" Ethan stopped himself. "Oh wait… haha… you're a girl. _Never_mind." Lily smiled, and then pretended to look offended.

"Why Eleanor, you hurt me so! Do you not think of me as feminine?" she asked, fluttering her eyelashes seductively as she tried to stop herself from giggling. Ethan looked pensive for a second, but before he could reply the trolley lady threw open the sliding door.

"Some sweets Ladies and Gentlemen?"

"And Alex." muttered Jacob, earning himself a kick in the shin.

As Lily looked on, all three boys bought almost everything on the trolley, explaining each sweet to Lily as they purchased it. She goggled as they piled up the sugary junk food on the little jutting table by the window, praying that it wouldn't break under the weight.

Still, she was quick to accept all the amazing candies they offered her, sampling each one thoroughly, and pausing to marvel at the moving picture on her Chocolate Frog card.

When she had tried almost everything they had given her, Ethan finally said, "Judging by the way you can pack it away, Lily, I would say that you were the very opposite of feminine."

"On the contrary," retorted Alex, "Just because a girl knows how to eat, it doesn't mean she's not-"

"There they go again," sighed Jacob. "Try these. Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Beans. Only… watch out. You can get some pretty nasty flavors."

Lily looked at the bag with a mixture of curiosity and apprehension. "Why eat them if they're gross?"

Jacob blinked. "Yeah. You're definitely a girl. Only a girl would actually think of something like that." Lily stuck her tongue out at him and grabbed a bean.

"I'll take that as a compliment." She informed him in her best 'snooty Lily' voice, biting into the bean. She made a face. "Ugh. Strawberry. I was hoping for blood." She laughed at the horrified expression on Jacob's face. "I'm kidding idiot!"

"An extra terrestrial _and_ a vampire. Could our group _get_ any weirder?"

Only then did it go slightly wrong. Her wonderful train ride was marred. Looking back, Lily was unbelievably thankful that she had this particular encounter had not happened right after her one with Bellatrix. She would have left the train screaming for sure.

James Potter stuck his head into the room. He grinned at the boys, and tousled his hair.

"Hi!" he said by way of introduction, "I'm James. James Potter. I've come to meet everyone on the train. I've already met the prefects, who were all annoyed because I interrupted their precious prefect meeting, and some girls who wear really weird makeup and my friends here, Remus Lupin and Sirius Black," the boys peeked in quickly,, waving to the others, "Oh… and.. um… Peter. That's you're name, right?." He asked a blond haired boy who had joined the others.

James beamed up at the older boys.

"I'm Lily," Lily ventured.

James looked at her for a brief second, before asking, "Who are you guys?" The boys introduced themselves, and, for the first time since she had encountered Bellatrix, Lily felt ignored. She was comforted by the fact that the boys did not seem to be enjoying James's incessant badgering, though it didn't help much. He'd snubbed her!

It didn't stop there though.

"I'd stay with you so you didn't have to spend time with the likes of her but…" James began, gesturing at Lily. He was interrupted by a shocked grunt from Jacob and stopped, rethinking his sentence. "I have a lot to see." He finished hurriedly.

"Annoying tyke," said Jacob airily, leaning back in his seat. Lily couldn't help but smile. At least someone was one her side. But it was, she told herself, a virtuous smile. After all, it wasn't very big.

"Lily, you're beaming." Ethan told her. She immediately stopped smiling. "Oh! Is Miss Lily in love?" he asked teasingly. Lily looked at him, her mouth dropping open in amazement. Then she fell off her seat, laughing.

Alex shook his head at her. "Denial isn't just a river in Egypt, Lily. You should read more Mark Twain."

"I do _not_ like James Potter!" she told them all, brushing herself off carefully and reseating herself.

Jacob cuffed her lightly, "Say that another hundred times and maybe we'll believe you."

"I don't like James Potter. I d-" started Lily, but Jacob interrupted her.

"I wasn't serious!"

**A/N- Tada! For all of you who are upset with me for not updating my other fics… I'm truly sorry. I haven't been around much- I went to Kiev and Holland and the States… and I've had BUCKET LOADS of homework. Anyway, this story just came right out of me. The others will come… eventually. :D **

**Reviews are my loves. –hint hint-**


	2. Passin' Trains That Have No Names

**A/N- OH MY GOLLY GOSH! I updated! Sorry for taking two weeks- I was in the States to visit boarding schools that I might go to next year.**

**A great bog thanks to all my wonderful reviews and (because I know how much I love this in other people's stories) some replies:**

Prongsxlily**: Hahaha! I'm sure James would appreciate that… although Lily and Jacob might not. Your Jamesie-poo (GACK) is rather horrid in this chapter… PLEASE FORGIVE ME! –runs and hides-**

Truth In the Moon**: Love your name! I'm looking forward to seeing what happens in the next few years too (heh.). I've got a vague plot lined up, but really, this is really just a connected series of oneshots… kind of. Heh. The 'plot' is a little fuzzy.**

Marauerer13**: Thanks for the review! I'm really enjoying this story, so hopefully there will be more very soon.**

Love**-**horses**: wow! I guess it wasn't so bad after all. Thankees!**

**This chappie is dedicated to **prongsxlily** for having the most entertaining review. Thankees!**

And now… onto the chapter. Joy! Warning: James is a total loser in this chapter. Don't worry… he gets nicer… eventually. I just wanted Lily to have a real reason for hating the kid.

**Disclaimer: Ha! Foiled again lawyers! See? I DON'T OWN IT. You still can't sue me! Muahahaha! Heh… Asylum here I come.**

**Rhythm of the Rails- Chapter Two**

As she hurried along the platform, Lily checked her watch yet again, and sped up. She cursed the law against using magic in the presence of Muggles as she dragged her trunk along. It made its way slowly, refusing to hurry no matter how hard she pulled. She turned to give it another yank.

This was a mistake. The minute she focused her attention on something besides walking, the foot of a certain someone connected with hers and she went sprawling, though that person gave her enough time to give her trunk the final pull that sent it trundling by without her. Without having to look up, Lily knew who her tormentor was.

"Potter!" she yelled, jumping to her feet in fury, "That was _not_ funny! Don't you have something better to do besides-" Her lecture was cut short by a loud squeal as her trunk rolled over the edge of the platform onto the train tracks. It split open, spilling all of her possessions all over the rails. And there was nothing she could do about it.

She wheeled to face her enemy. James stood there, leaning against a pillar, the expression on his face smug. He ran a hand through his black hair in mockery.

"Good luck making the train, Evans." He said calmly before strutting away. Lily was left standing alone, radiating anger. She stalked over to the edge to examine the situation. It was a mess.

'_Should I get on the train without my things?_' she wondered. But such thoughts were interrupted by a kindly voice behind her.

"Having trouble there Lils? How is it that I always find you in these situations?"

Lily sighed in relief and turned to face Ethan. "Maybe because I'm always _in_ these situations." She replied, "What am I going to do about my trunk?" she asked, pointing to it. Ethan peered over the edge and whistled.

"Potter?" he asked quietly, surveying the damage.

Lily nodded. "Who else?"

Ethan began climbing down. Lily bit back a warning and climbed after him, though she knew how stupid it was. Still, Ethan was a muggle born too, so he knew what he was getting himself into when he stepped onto a train track. The boy started sorting through her stuff.

"Pick what's important." He told her, gathering her spell books and dumping them into a cauldron along with her robes. Lily just nodded again, and selected her favorite shirt, her moneybag and her sketchbook. Then she carefully pulled Smudge, her new cat, out of her carrying case. She threw them all into the cauldron and crawled back onto the platform.

"Pass them up!" she called to Ethan. He hefted the pot onto his shoulders and, with much effort; she managed to pull it onto the platform. Then she checked her watch again.

"Ethan!" she cried, "Hurry! We've only got a minute… if that!" The boy crawled joined he on the platform and started to run. She ran after him, dragging her cauldron behind.

One short minute later, they were on the train. Lily pulled her indignant cat out of its prison and soothed it quietly. Soon she had the grey striped creature purring, though its claws were still embedded in her arms. She winced and looked up at Ethan. He was sitting next to her, his back pressed against the train door.

"I reckon we should find our compartment," he began. Then he stopped and blanched. "Lily!" he exclaimed, "I forgot my bag on the platform!"

They stared at each other for a second before dissolving into fits of laughter.

Two subdued individuals entered the last compartment on the train in silence, having exhausted their giggles. They were met with surprise and relief from their fellows.

"Ethan! Lils! We thought you'd missed the train!" exclaimed Jacob, leaping up to hug the two. Then he caught sight of Lily's cauldron. "Suitcases just not fashionable enough for you Lils?" he joked. She glared at him and sat down angrily, shoving her pot under the seat. Jacob looked to Ethan for explanation.

"Don't ask me!" Ethan sighed, "I don't even have a _cauldron._"

"Ask Potter." Grumbled Lily.

"Speak of the devil." Said Alex bitterly as the compartment door swung open. Their visitor was indeed Potter, though his cronies were nowhere to be seen. He looked at Lily in mild surprise.

"Didn't think you'd make it Evans." He commented blithely. All four boys stood up, though it was, surprisingly, good-tempered Alex who spoke first.

"Potter, if you have anything to do with Lily having a cauldron for a trunk and Ethan having no trunk at all, I suggest you get out of this compartment." He advised quietly, drawing himself to his full height.

Unfazed, James merely raised his hands in mock surrender. "I have no quarrel with any of you." He stated calmly, gesturing to each of the boys in turn.

"I might _just_ have a problem with _you_ though Potter." Ethan said, stepping forwards, everything about his body language holding the vague hint of a threat. Even his hands, usually loose, were almost balled into fists.

"Ignore the prat." Lily interrupted, not wanting to watch a scene. "He's caused enough trouble. Don't give him any more attention. Positive or negative it inflates his oversized ego anyway. His mind twists everything into a compliment."

"Why thank you Evans." James said, still calm.

"See what I mean?" she demanded, shutting the door in his face.

--

The Potter incident, though not forgotten, had been pushed to the very back of Lily's mind by the time the trolley lady had passed. It had been a mild one, especially since, as James's favorite prank target, she was used to the boys arguing with him.

The various candies from the cart led the foursome to start a conversation about Honeydukes, which led, as was inevitable, to a discussion about Hogsmeade.

"All I'm saying is that I was to try some of the blood flavored lollipops." Lily said as she leaned back in her seat and rested her feet on the little table jutting from the window. She glanced playfully at Jacob. They had an ongoing joke about her 'vampirical tendencies'.

Ethan sighed. "And all _I'm_ saying is that there's no way we can take a second year with us, even if you _are_ our best friend."

Lily huffed quietly into her shirt. Then she brightened. "We could sneak in!" she said, only half joking.

Alex grinned. "You're too chicken." He informed her teasingly. She gasped in mock offense.

"Is that a challenge Alex?" she asked, curling her upper lip into her best 'bring it on' smile. He met her eye to eye.

"It is." He agreed, "Truth or Dare Evans?"

"Truth." She said sweetly, fighting not to laugh, as it would have ruined her innocent expression. Alex threw a Chocolate Frog at her.

"Wuss." He mumbled, and continued muttering about girls who said one thing and did another. Then he gave in. "Fine. An easy dare for the chicken. Climb up onto the luggage rack." Lily stuck her tongue out at him.

"I said 'Truth' you know." She reminded him as she stood up and prodded the rack tentatively. He rolled his eyes as she continued, "I doubt that the rack will hold me anyway." Nevertheless, Lily Evans was not going to be called a coward. IN front of her three best friends she clambered nimbly onto her seat, and from there onto the little table next to the window. As she did so, she took great care to step on Alex's mound of candy.

"Oops!" she exclaimed in mock surprise, holding in her giggles.

Alex glared at her playfully, but remained silent. It was a custom for the group to remain silent during dares because it increased the tension. Only the person doing the dare was allowed to speak. Lily turned her attention back to the luggage. She put her two hands on the edge and tried to lift herself up. The result had her friends rolling on the ground laughing: Lily was stuck halfway onto the rack with her legs waving around in midair like a penguin.

"Shut up!" Lily yelled through irrepressible giggles.

Then the rack gave a quiet creak. Lily started to climb own, but it was too late. With a quick shudder the whole thing peeled off the wall and fell to the floor with a car. Lily landed on top of Jacob and Ethan, who were still laughing. Smudge exploded from underneath the rack, hissing angrily.

Then the compartment door came open a second time.

"Having fun Evans?" James asked, his voice jeering, "I understand how you stay friends with these boys now. You throw yourselves at them."

Lily leapt quickly off the boys' laps, blushing crimson. 

"What do you want, Potter?" she spat, glaring daggers.

"I was hoping to see you embarrass yourself again before the end of the ride," he replied smoothly, sounding as unconcerned as he usually did. Lily wondered briefly why no one else ever saw this horrible side of the boy. He continued, "I was not disappointed."

"In that case, please let me show you the sliding door," Lily said, a sweet smile on her face. She grabbed the door and slid it shut _on_ his face. Violently. There was a satisfying crunch as door met jaw. Lily turned to face her friends again, ignoring James's wimpers. "He'll be alright when Madame Pomfrey gets to him." She told them in response to the alarm on their faces.

Lily Evans was not a girl to be messed with.

"So wait… what were we going to name our group again?" asked Ethan quietly, trying to lessen the tension.

"I was thinking of an acronym that used the first letters of all our names." Ethan answered, sounding relieved about the change of subject, "Like… L-A-J-E… or… I don't know… If Jacob's name started with a 'K' we could be named 'K-A-L-E'"

"Right." Jacob drawled, "Because I've _always_ wanted to be in a group named after a vegetable. It's been my lifelong dream."

"What about J-A-L-E?" proposed Lily.

"Lils, we aren't all criminals who go beating up Potters…"

"Shut up Ethan! He deserved it!"

Insufficient luggage, broken luggage racks, insufferable Potters, vampires, Hogsmeade, criminal records and angry cats. It was going to be an interesting year.

**A/N (TWO! Ooo… a sequel) (Sorry… I'm hyper)-**

**Aaah! I really, really, REALLY want to write a chapter about what happens during the year. –sigh-. I must resist though. Anyway… hope y'all are pretty darn annoyed at James.**

**Thanks so much for reading! If you find any mistakes, PLEASE tell me. I tried sending this story to me 'beta'… but she didn't reply. Hmm. My 'd' key isn't working properly, and my understanding of grammar is almost non-existent (I know French and German grammar better than English grammar. How sad is that) so I really need help.**

Thankees again for reading!

**.:froggie:.**


	3. The Steel Rail Still Aint Heard the News

**A/N- This took way too long to update. Sorry about that all. I was just uberly busy and such. Plus I;m essentially a lazy bum. Oh, and add to that that the server didn't accept my document on the one day I **_**was**_** ready to submit, which led to me adding little odds and ends on to the chapter… and then I kind of got carried away… made up a character just because I kind of wanted to… you know the drill. And then I had to think up a suitably pitiful excuse to feed you all, which is where I am now.**

**  
Yeah.**

**Yaaay! Special notes of specialness for my UBERLY UNBELIEVABLY SPECIAL reviewers of wonderful DOOM! (Hmm… wonderful doom…). –ahem-**

**Prongsxlilyflower: Yay! Gold star for being the only person to review both my chapters! –hugs- And I guess your dreams came true! Yay! Though things may get worse before they get better… Oops. Anyway… I'm glad you liked that line… I'm afraid this chapter's not quite as funny. Ah well.**

**Caramel: -hides- Please forgive me! I didn't mean to lie! Don't hurt the author! Don't hurt the author! Hurt James! You said yourself that he's a monkey!**

**I have to keep 'Holy Sweet mother of all beans' in my head as my exclamative phrase of the week. Because of your uber shiny phrase and your amoosing review, **I dedicated this chapter to you**. Yayness! –dedicates-**

**Emuroo: I found train scenes a little too short… so I figured I'd just write a fic about train scenes. It where all the important stuff happens, right? And… to tell the truth… I was very bored and had (emphasis on the past tense) to much free time. Glad you enjoyed it, and thanks a truckload for the review!**

**OntheVergeofExtinction: Glad you liked it! I'm sorry it took so long for said update to appear.**

**Ckontowderon32: Aaaw… sorry… I'll shoot James at the first opportunity for his cruelty (Or just get Voldie to finish him off… and his little wife too! –cackle-). Meanwhile… hope you enjoy the chappie!**

**There is less 'humor' in this chapter than there was in the last two. I can't write humor under pressure, so I deleted my stupid and badly written attempts. I hope you enjoy all the same.**

**And, before I forget:**

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Muahaha! Foiled again you stupid lawyers!

**Now, without further ado (Is that the coolest phrase, or that the **_**coolest**_** phrase?)**

**Rhythm of the Rails- Chapter 3**

For the first time ever, Lily was regretting the end of summer vacation. Everything had been different this summer. The location was the same– a boring Muggle home where she was forced to spend time with Petunia– but the atmosphere had somehow changed. The boys in her neighborhood, usually cold and indifferent, had started spending time with her. She had finally been freed of the younger girls that plagued her community and allowed to be with the guys, who were her own age. Lily put it down to the amount of time she spent with Ethan, Jacob and Alex. The summer had been glorious.

Her qualms quickly faded when she passed through the barrier. The glory of the Hogwarts Express enchanted her as it had each time she had boarded it. What was not to like about a purple train? After moving out of the way of the barrier, Lily paused to admire it briefly.

"Are you lost?" came a boy's voice behind her. She grinned and turned around.

"Ethan!" She replied, throwing her arms around him in a friendly hug, "My sense of direction isn't _that_ bad. I can find a train when it's right in front of my face."

Ethan's eyes widened in shock as he took a closer look at her. "_Lily_?" he gasped. Then he shook his head and pulled himself together, "You look… different." Lily didn't miss his attempt at nonchalance. She rolled her eyes.

"Damn. What has Potter done to me _this_ time?" she demanded, pulling out her wand to set her hair right. Or her eyes. Or her nose. Or to remove any extra limbs Potter might have added to her person. But Ethan shook his head again.

"Not Potter," he reassured her, "You've just changed a little. Come on… let's find Jacob and Alex."

Lily didn't notice the jealous looks several boys gave Ethan as they passed. She just chatted away happily, totally oblivious. Ethan hardly noticed them either. He was too busy trying to keep his head. The girl who had been one of his best friends for the past two years had suddenly become…beautiful. Her body had finally evened out and become properly proportioned, her hair had decided that suiting her face was in its best interest, her face had lost its baby fat and actually managed fit her already stunning eyes, her braces were gone, leaving perfectly straight teeth in their wake… there was no doubt about it. Lily Evans was one of the better-looking girls Ethan had ever had the good fortune to meet. And she didn't even know it.

Jacob and Alex noticed her change too.

"Who's the new kid?" asked Alex after giving Lily the briefest of glances. Then he did a double take.

"Lily?" asked Alex and Jacob simultaneously.

"What is this? Some kind of group joke?" demanded Lily, sitting herself down huffily. The boys sat in shocked silence for a moment.

"Did you know about this?" Jacob asked Ethan, who shook his head.

Lily decided not even to ask. 'Must just be one of those stupid boy things.' She decided. That was the price she had to pay for not making any real girl friends. 'It's a small price really.' She reminded herself firmly.

"So… uh… how were your summers?" she asked tentatively. The tension in the air disappeared suddenly as the boys all started talking at once. Lily leaned back and breathed a sigh of relief. It was fine with her if her life at home rearranged itself, but she liked her life at Hogwarts just exactly the way it was. Though there was one aspect of Hogwartian life that she would have changed: James Potter.

Be careful what you wish for.

"I'll be right back," said Lily, getting up to go to the bathroom. Jacob and Alex just nodded, but Ethan could not resist a quick joke.

"Mistress Lily has to freshen up and apply makeup!" he simpered, fluttering his eyelashes. Lily stuck her tongue out at him and left the compartment.

"Aaaw. Is poor little Eleanor jealous?" she called back, "Don't worry Ellie dearest. I'll get you a makeup kit for Christmas."

Ethan stuck his head out to reply, but quickly ducked back in when he saw the number of people who were looking out of their compartments to see what was going on. Lily grinned to herself and kept walking. Then she realized that she had as good as admitted to having makeup.

"Drat." She muttered. If there was one thing Lily hated, it was being accused of something she hadn't done… and accidentally going along with that accusation.

Deep in thought as she was, she pulled a typical Lily stunt: She crashed into a door. Annoyed, she got up to brush herself off. Then she heard the voices.

"What'll we do to Evans this year?" the first voice drawled. It was a voice Lily knew all too well. Potter. She pressed her ear to the door curiously. It would be nice to be able to anticipate a prank for once.

"Give her a break Prongs! The girl's not _that_ bad. What's your problem with her anyway?" Lily was pretty sure that the second voice belonged to Remus Lupin. He had always been a decent sort, though she knew that he masterminded many of the Marauderer pranks.

"No, Prongs is right Moony," came a watery voice Lily figured must be that of Peter Pettigrew. She had always pitied the boy, for though her was fairly intelligent, he had nothing on his friends.

"Hey! I though you were kissing up to _me_ today Pete," protested Remus. Lily bit back a laugh as she listened to Peter's indignant squeals.

"Silly Moony!" James laughed, "Look more closely at his agenda!" He then continued in a high falsetto voice, "Monday- Bother Remus. Tuesday… that's today Moony… Kiss up to James. Wednesday- Pat self on the back for being in the coolest club in school…" Lily rolled her eyes.

"You forgot Sirius," Remus noted quietly. He was obviously trying not to laugh for Peter's sake.

"Why would anyone bother kissing up to Sirius?" joked James.

"Oi! I resent that!" came a voice from behind Lily. She wheeled around and scuttled out of Sirius Black's way as he entered the compartment, "Peter's supposed to brush my hair on Thursday! If that's not kissing up, I don't know what is." For one glorious moment Lily thought she was going to get away without a remark from the boy. Maybe, just maybe, he was going to pass up a chance to humiliate her.

"Oh, and by the way Evans… it's not polite to eavesdrop," added Sirius as an afterthought, poking his head out of the door. Lily dashed away, mortified, but not before she heard Peter read one of James's letters from his mother at the top of his voice.

The kid wasn't so stupid after all, though she was fairly sure that the amplifying spell was Remus's. The last thing she heard was 'Ooh! Gee James! I didn't know you were into having _that_ kind of thing on your agenda!' She sniggered despite herself.

When she reached the sanctuary of the girls' toilets, Lily sank against the wall. She was completely confused. She wanted to cry about her brief embarrassment, but it hadn't been _so_ bad, especially compared to some of the other comments she had received from Potter's gang. But that embarrassing her was only an afterthought for Sirius was even more annoying. At the same time, Lily wanted to laugh at herself for caring.

She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she never even paused to look at her surroundings, so when someone put a hand on her shoulder, she almost leaped straight out of her skin.

"Oops! Sorry if I scared you!" stammered a girl apologetically, "You looked kind of depressed so I figured I'd come talk. I can leave if you want."

Lily smiled slightly, realizing that she looked slightly insane. She stuck out her hand.

"Lily Evans," she stated, "Gryffindor." The girl stared at Lily's hand for a moment before sticking out her own.

"Kitty Stikes," the girl replied with equal formality, "Hufflepuff." After a brief pause she started to giggle, "Now that was weird. The shaking hands." Lily spent a few seconds wondering if she ought to be insulted before laughing along. It felt good to laugh with someone who wasn't a boy. Maybe it was this sense of female companionship that drove her to do what she did next. Or maybe it was just the fact that Jacob, Ethan and Alex were sick of her tirades. Whatever the reason, Lily found herself spilling her whole story to this stranger. Kitty made an exceptional audience. She was attentive, sympathetic and incredulous in all the right places.

The two girls sat with their backs pressed against the door for a long time. Lily learned that Kitty was a fairly unpopular girl with a major crush on Amos Diggory. The two gossiped and giggled until Lily happened to glance at her watch.

"Oh no!" she gasped, "I'll miss the candy cart!" She grabbed Kitty's hand and burst out of the bathroom, explaining as she ran, "Something pivotal _always_ happens right after the candy cart arrives. It's a JALE tradition!"

Together the two girls entered the compartment. They were just ahead of the kindly woman pushing the trolley. The boys looked up with a mixture of surprise and relief.

"There you are Lily!" said Ethan, "We though you had gone and drowned yourself or something. Or that Potter had done something to you." Ethan was hanging off the ceiling from his feet. Lily decided not to ask.

"Who's your friend?" asked Alex curiously, looking Kitty up and down in mild confusion.

"This is Kitty Stykes," announced Lily by way of introduction, "We spent a while talking. Kitty, the abnormally tall one is Alex, the… er… upside-down one is Ethan and the one who looks normal is Jacob. Trust me, in his case appearances can be deceiving.

Kitty smiled politely, if a tad nervously. Lily couldn't blame the girl. Her friends were a little strange.

The candy cart came in. Kitty reminded Lily of herself in years passed. Not long ago, the number of sweets the boys purchased had horrified her too. Now she was used to it, though she had to admit that creating 'The Ultimate List of Candied Confections That One Must At All Costs Buy From The Hogwarts Express Candy Cart' was going a little far.

"So." Began Alex awkwardly as the cart tender unloaded another box of chocolate frogs, "What house are you from?"

"Hufflepuff. I'm in third year," Kitty informed him.

"Hufflepuff? Really?" commented Ethan dryly from the ceiling, "What language do they speak in Hufflepuff?"

Kitty giggled.

Finally, Lily could contain herself no longer.

"Ethan! Why are you on the ceiling?" she demanded, "And why do you, Jacob and Alex, seem all… normal?" Kitty looked at her questioningly. Lily, noticing this, sighed and said, "You've got a lot to learn Kitty. First rule: These guys are always up to something. Especially Alex. When he looks normal, you're in for it."

She was about to start explaining herself when the compartment door slid open. James Potter stepped in.

"As usual Potter, your timing is awful," Lily snapped. She didn't bother to turn to face him.

"When isn't it?" quipped Jacob, "I can't think of a time in which seeing Potter would be agreeable."

"I just came to tell Evans that I'd appreciate it if she didn't listen in on our conversations in the future," James said lazily. Lily wheeled to face him in fury, for once at a temporary loss for words. She was, however, not the only one. James stared at her, completely and utterly transfixed, taking in every detail of her now beautiful face for several minutes. Finally, Lily decided that it was time to react.

"Er… Potter," she ventured, "Any particular reason you're staring at me?"

"E-Evans," he stuttered helplessly. His mouth was forming words without his consent, "Will you… will you go out with me?" Lily rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Very funny Potter," she sighed, "But I believe you are already well acquainted with the sliding door. You should be able to find it easily enough."

"Is that a yes?" he asked eagerly.

"Nope. That's about as far away from 'yes' as you can get," Lily informed him coldly. James seemed to enter a state of deep thought.

"So it's an 'okay'?" he said carefully.

"No you idiot! It's an emphatic 'NO'," she stated mercilessly. James gaped at her.

"Y-you're r-_rejecting_ me?" he demanded incredulously.

"Could you quit stammering?" asked Lily, "It doesn't add anything to your act." She turned around again, determined to ignore James. Instead, she focused her attention on getting Ethan off the ceiling. James just stood at the door, his openmouthed expression matching that of every other person in the compartment.

When Ethan had finally been detached and come crashing to the floor, Lily turned and smiled sweetly at James.

"Are you still here? Leave," she ordered. James left the compartment automatically, still completely shell shocked. Only then did Lily let herself turn to the others. The boys were trying to stifle their laughter until James was out of earshot. They were failing miserably. Only Kitty looked upset.

"Weren't you… I don't know… a little harsh Lily?" she began tentatively. At this the boys burst into loud guffaws. Lily merely rolled her eyes.

"Kitty, do you have any idea what would have happened if I had actually said something as stupid as _yes_? First of all, it was a prank, so he would have thrown it into my face. Second, even if it hadn't been a prank, Potter has been trying to make my life at Hogwarts a living hell ever since he first met me on the train. I would _die_ if I went out with him. He is the most insufferably horrible brat I have ever met. And third… nothing is too harsh for Potter. I'll pay him back for every little injustice in any way I can. He deserves to be stomped on! He deserves to be crushed! He deserves to have his over-inflated balloon of a head pricked by a needle so that he might take a look around and realize that, contrary to his own belief, the world does not revolve around him and his stupid, self-centered, ego boosting pranks that only serve to ruin the lives of other children and squash any self confidence that they might have had out of them, never to return again! " Finally, Lily ended up having to pause for air. The boys blinked at her a few times. Kitty took it all in calmly, though she was still slightly confused, and maybe a little afraid of Lily.

There was an awkward silence.

"I can elaborate," Lily offered.

"Hey! I know what we should do," Jacob interrupted quickly, "Let's go eavesdrop on Potter. See how his cronies take it when they find out his prank backfired." The others agreed quickly. Anything to avoid another one of the 'I Despise Potter' rants that Lily was famous… or infamous… for.

They all filed out except for Lily Ethan poked his head back into the compartment.

"Come on Lily. According to Potter, eavesdropping is your field of expertise," he teased. Lily stuck her tongue out at him.

"Are you telling me that after that lengthy distraction you _still_ remember that?" she demanded jokingly, "I wore myself out for nothing!" She got up all the same though. It would be nice to hear Potter admit defeat, though she wasn't quite so sure if it was worth going down the hallway on her stomach; Ethan had spent the summer watching corny spy movies and insisted that traveling penguin style was the only way one could travel if one did not want to attract attention.

'I have to hand it to Potter,' she thought, following the group as they crawled down the hallways 'secret agent' style, 'He is a fairly good actor.' But all she said was "Wow. One has to wonder how the secret agents do this without getting dirt all down their tuxes. Maybe the mop the floors _before_ they go sliding all over them."

"Do you have a mop? Because if you want to mop the floors, it's your call." Alex retorted.

"It's call 'magic' bozo,"she answered, "You know, that thing we learn at our _magical_ boarding school."

"I wasn't aware that Hogwarts offered Home Ec," whispered Ethan from the front of their line. Then he realized that the only other person in the group who would understand him was Lily. The others were purebloods. She grinned at him.

"Care to show us which compartment is the Marauderers' Lily?" Jacob said in a mildly taunting voice, "After all, none of us have been there yet."

"Ethan already used that one," Lily protested, "You two should compare notes before teasing me." Lily would have kicked him for good measure, but they were interrupted.

Bellatrix had just stepped out of her compartment and was regarding their group with the utmost scorn. Her lips curled into an all too familiar contemptuous sneer.

"What are you worms doing on the floor?" she jeered, "Or have you finally realized that that's your natural habitat?" The group stood up together, brushing themselves off self-consciously. Bellatrix spotted Kitty. Her smile grew even wider.

"Why if it isn't my favorite little test subject," she began sweetly, "How would you like to try out a few more jinxes, _dearest_?" Her eyes bore into Kitty's, hypnotizing her just as a snake might.

"Leave her alone," said Alex, stepping between the two. He glared menacingly at Bellatrix. She spent a moment sizing him up before rolling her eyes mockingly.

"Oh, what's an overgrown bookworm going to do to me? Beat me up along with his two wimpy little friends. Or maybe your precious Lily will help you. If she didn't look fragile enough to snap in half with a single spell, I might be a little more afraid. Or maybe Kitty here is going to-" Bellatrix never got to finish her sentence. She had been hit with four hexes simultaneously. Only Kitty had held back, though she joined in the group's cheerful assessment of the damage with great enjoyment.

"What's going on out here?" demanded Remus, having come out of the Marauderer compartment when he had heard the noise. He started laughing when he saw the sorry state Bellatrix was in.

"Guys," he called back to is fellow Marauderers, "You _have_ to come and see this!"

"I think this is when we make our subtle but speedy escape," decided Lily, "And this time we'll walk instead of listening to Ethan's spy movie talk."

Back in their carriage, no one mentioned Bellatrix's comment about Kitty. They sat in silence for a moment before Alex suddenly sat up.

"Hey!" he exclaimed, "I just realized! Now that Kitty's hanging out with us, we could actually conceivably call our group KALE!"

"You're right," said Ethan, "All we have to do is kick Jacob out in order to get rid of that useless 'J'."

"You mean Lily was serious when she said your group name was JALE?" Kitty asked incredulously, "I thought she was kidding!"

"Hey, you try and make a word with the letters J, A, L and E. Or J, A, L, E and K for that matter," Jacob answered.

"If we stopped hanging out with Jacob we could call ourselves LAKE too!" stated Alex. He was ignored as each member put forth his or her own idea:

'Kick Lily out! JAKE!' 'Forget Alex and we get KELJ… er… JELK! Yeah… JELK! That's a Muggle deer thing, isn't it?' 'That's 'elk' idiot.' 'Fine! Kick out Jacob AND Alex!' 'JAKE!' "LAKE!' 'JALE' 'KALE' 'ELK!'

"Did it ever occur to you guys that your name doesn't necessarily have to be an acronym of all your initials?" asked Kitty after a moments thought. Everyone stared at her.

"Naw, it's much more fun to excluded people."

**A/N- Yay! Year three is finished! James will be more calm an collected in the next chapter… it was justhim seeing Lily looking all pretty that kinda blew what brains he had… temporally. I'm afraid things may get A LOT worse before they get better. Anymoo… Er… I hope you guys don't mind Kitty. I felt Liyl needed some female companionship, but that having her be in Gryffindor would be a tad unrealistic (why would they not have met before, right?). She has history with Bellatrix though(expect to see more of **_**her**_** too as lily becomes more popular. (Muahahaha)**

**Anymoo… that aboot it for this chapter. Again, reviews in which wonderful champions of specialness tell me about my mistakes will be rewarded with shiny cookies of delicious yumminess. Come on now- you can't resist a yummy cookie of delicious yumminess! It's yummy… and delicious… and SHINY… all in ONE cookie! Yeah. **

**Muchos Luff to all of you!**

**.:froggie:.**


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